Lawmaker Would Ban|Sex With Corpses

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CN) – A proposed state law would restrict what one may do with a corpse, and ban having sex with it.

The bill is a reaction to criminal cases in which bodies of overdose victims were moved to hinder investigation. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, would make it a felony to move a corpse without authorization, or to have sex with it. Moving the body would be a Class 4 felony, with a penalty ranging from probation to 3 years in prison. Having sex with a corpse would be a Class 2 felony, with a penalty ranging between probation to 7 years in prison. Beiser told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the law is a response to the increase in charges against drug dealers who supplied the drugs in fatal overdoses. Police regard the sites of overdoses as crime scenes. The bill would exempt emergency responders, physicians, medical students, funeral directors and employees of coroners’ or medical examiners’ offices. The portion banning sex with a corpse is to show respect for the dead and is not in response to any particular incident.